


Avalanche

by bonehandledknife (ladywinter), Primarybufferpanel (ArwenLune)



Series: The Mountains Are The Same [35]
Category: Mad Max Series (Movies)
Genre: Frottage, Other, Warboys dealing with a post-Joe world, sexual dreams
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-16
Updated: 2015-12-16
Packaged: 2018-05-07 02:08:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5439494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladywinter/pseuds/bonehandledknife, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArwenLune/pseuds/Primarybufferpanel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Avalanche (ˈavəlɑːnʃ/)<br/>1.   a mass of snow, ice, and rocks falling rapidly down a mountainside.<br/>2.   a sudden arrival or occurrence of something in overwhelming quantities.</p><p> </p><p>  <i>There was a sudden, loud crack against the mouth of the room, the window in the stone to the outside, and everyone jumped as the sound of breaking stone boomed around the space.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Avalanche

Hands. Touching his face. Max tried to brace himself for this familiar nightmare when it slowly dawned on him that it wasn't the same one. The hands weren't grabbing, just touching lightly, patting almost, and he felt like there should be panic, there was usually panic at this point, but he was warm and comfortable and…. safe?

The sound of heavy breathing and soft moans was all around him, and when he shifted there was a body in front of him, warm and lean and solid. Max mindlessly rolled his hips, finding friction that made his breathing pick up. There were hums of approval and the hands on his face slid through his hair, scratching lightly. Max found himself arching into the touch a little, and a body behind him spooned in closer, a warm line all along his back and legs. 

This should have been alarming, but Max found himself humming with approval, the touches seeming to repair some kind of damage he hadn't known he'd had. Folding him back into his skin.

It’d felt like a trespass to feel so safe in something so dangerous as touch, it felt like a guilty kink. Hands, they were usually… usually dangerous, and to just  _ let  _ them near like this and to  _ know  _ that no harm was coming...

He felt a long-fingered hand rest lightly on his cheek. Furiosa. He rubbed his bristly cheek against her palm and heard her chuckle. “It’s okay, let yourself.”

He couldn't remember when he'd last felt anything like this. Years, maybe, since that foggy time when he’d had a wife. When his body sought out the feeling of another nearby, when his arms folded themselves around the waist in front of him almost without his input as if they belonged there, and his hips moved against skin with lazy sleepy delight.

Somebody breathed warm and damp on the back of his neck, and a shiver went through him. He wanted that mouth to land where it hovered near. He wanted to tangle in close. He wanted to reach down because he knew that he’d find a handful of cock and he knew just what to do with it to make the other man whine into his grip. Somewhere, he knew exactly who this was, had already admitted it to himself, had already imagined what he would sound like. (Knew that he didn’t need to imagine because he’d already  _ heard _ .)

The mouth pressed a low groan to his neck, and then the touch started to fade, the bodies moving away from around him. He moaned unhappily, felt the sound vibrate in his throat. 

Woke up, his hips still rocking into empty air. 

"....fuck."

Before he could think about it too much he slid his hand over his pants, cupping himself where he was achingly hard and leaking. Allowed his hips to continue rocking. Tried to recapture the sensations of the dream. It had been vivid, and the memory of seeing Furiosa and her crew sleepily grind off against each other probably wouldn't ever leave him. It didn't take much, to get there. The memory of their sounds, the half-there glances he’d caught in the dim room, and everything in between that his imagination filled in.

The ‘what if’ had chased him; the possibility of him having slipped from his cushion and joined them. The possibility that they would have found space for him. That he could have been part of it. 

It’d chased him away into the Wasteland.

He was not yet sure what had dragged him back.

 

* * *

 

 

Council the next morning was full of uneasy faces, people still a little nervous from the uproar the day before. The news had come up by late afternoon that there was nothing to worry about and no reason to stay locked in, but the breeders hadn't risked unbarring their door until this morning, when Janey and Cheedo had gone on a long walk around the Citadel. Finding everything including the Warboy barracks calm, they'd gone by the breeders quarters to reassure them there was no danger. 

"So it's settled now?" one of the Milking Mothers asked Janey as the council members settled. 

"Far as I can tell it mostly is," she nodded. 

"I don't think it ever was a revolution as we feared," Cheedo said. "It mostly looked like they were working out how to… well, how to feel about Joe?"

"Huh."

“Austeyr did try to break his knuckles against the wall when he first found out,” Toast mentioned.

There was a sudden, loud crack against the mouth of the room, the window in the stone to the outside, and everyone jumped as the sound of breaking stone boomed around the space.

“An attack?!” All the Vuvalini took up arms and everybody rose from their seats. Was it too soon to think there’d be no revolution?

The grinding scream of rolling rocks followed, and Janey cautiously walked to the balcony, her rifle raised. It sounded like there were people climbing around on the rock face, and she had a sudden, vivid nightmare of some unforeseen second war party having made its way there during the night. 

She found an angle that allowed her to view outside without being too close, and just then there was another crashing boom, followed by more falling rocks. 

“ ‘Ey!” a grey painted head popped itself upside down into the window, “Just gotta be here, won't be a minute."

He blinked at the raised weapons when he'd climbed inside, but seemed to ignore them. He took several long metal poles that’ve been strapped to his back and angled them against the protruding rocks that formed the upper teeth of the skull emblem, kicking the bottom of the poles until they were wedged tightly. Then he hammered in some metal wedges close to the ceiling, above the poles. 

"Might not wanna stand too close,” he suggested. The moment they took a step back, he yelled, “ALLS CLEAR!”

There was a hammerblow outside, and an entire upper tooth of the stone skull window fell right off, pushed outward by its pole and crashing its way downward, the metal pole clattering noisily to the balcony floor. Outside there was cheering. Then another hammerblow, and the next tooth fell, and again, until they were all gone.  

Janey blinked in the sudden extra light that fell into the room. 

"So... we're not about to be overrun? We're safe?" 

The war boy blinked at them. Janey thought his name was Valve, one of those Ace picked for his team. “Overrun?” he asked.

“Well what's all that noise about?” Tribune Dag asked, waving outside.

Valve made a frustrated tch sound against his teeth, "Some of us felt it was time to express our…" he paused, as if trying to remember somebody else's words, " _ righteous anger _ . With the Immortan traitoring us."

They all took a breath at that, looking at each other; Joe’s awfulness was something that they’d hoped to someday have the war boys realize, and they’d thought that the lead in the water would prove it to them but— 

“So then you’re…?” 

“ Rearranging his  _ face _ .” The war boy said sullenly, as if he expected to be made to stop.

— but they didn’t expect that the war boys would take it upon  _ themselves _ to deface the skull sigil. There were tentative plans to order the skull be defaced, once the new sigil was introduced. But it had been low priority, and they’d expected resistance.

"Oh, that’s all right then,” Cheedo chirruped and the war boy perked up at that, “Though I hope you’ve been careful?" 

"Yeah, we sent people down t’ make sure the ground’s clear for the falling rocks." He scratched at the back his neck, “should just be the small stuff now. Detail work.” Valve stood up straight, and nodded formally, “Tribunes. Elders. I’ll be off to oversee the rest.” 

And then swung himself out the opening again.

“ ‘Detail work’.” Capable murmured, then raised a hand to her neck too. She turned swiftly and started to walk out the room. “Cheedo, send the pups to scout, send any war boys to the infirmary who’s bleeding. And if they won’t go there, let me know so I can go to them.”

“What…”

“ The  _ brands _ .”

Toast caught up to her, “I’m going with you.”

Capable just nodded, a relieved smiled, and they hurried out the door.

Janey turned from that and looked over at the balcony again, Dag was already craned outwards with her hands braced on the balcony’s edge looking up and to the sides.

“They’re like ants, smashing his face up,” she murmured with an singsong tone. “Crawling all over it and chip-chipping it away.”

"They're making a lot of noise." Britt grumped, but had a bit of a smile.

"Seems to be making them feel better though." Janey said, “And it weren’t nothing we don’t want anyway.”

“What’s that?” Kompass asked as he came in. He had a fat lip and had applied fresh clay this morning, something Janey knew he didn't normally do until he had to go outside. It was presumably hiding bruising, or maybe he’d planned on going out to have a whack at Joe’s face as well. "They giving you trouble? Told them to be careful if they were gonna go smash things up, what with you all taking your early meal here."

"No, it's fine. Just surprised us."

"Right. Came here to ask,” Kompass said, “Miss Gale, think it's a good idea if I try an get Boss up to the terraces? Get a bit of sun?”

"If she'll go, I think that would be wonderful," Gale said. 

“Think she might? Seemed determined to, last time when we were all going stir-crazy.” What was unsaid was that a lot had changed since then. Janey could see the uncertainty on the war boy’s face; all of her boys looking so concerned this past while over Furiosa’s heartsick. 

"Don't force her, but I think you boys know best how to encourage her to go."

He blinked at the idea that she considered him and the others the ones who'd know best about Furiosa. 

"Did she seem to like it once she got there that time?”

"Wanted to go her own self, even though we didn't think she should be walkin' yet. Got it in her stubborn head and just went. An’ now all we want is for her to do just that."

The war boy looked so tragically frustrated at the irony of it all, that Janey wanted to smile. “How did it even happen anyway?”

 

* * *

 

It’d been just before the siege, the day that had ended in storytelling in the Altar room. 

_ "I want to go up to the Green." _

_ They gave her startled looks. It was a lot of steps up to the green. They thought. None of them had ever been up there for longer than to haul produce back down; to work out logistics the greenthumbs had met them elsewhere. _

_ "Here Boss, why'd you want to go and do that? You gonna become a greenthumb now you don't have a War Rig?" Austeyr said, waiting for her to laugh and say she was joking. Warboys didn't go up to the Green - that was only for people who'd been declared unfit for War, destined to get shamefully green fingers and live and die soft. _

_ "I want to go," she repeated, pushing herself up against the wall. "Gale says it's fine." _

_ Austeyr looked at Kompass for help, but Furiosa was already on her feet and they found themselves going with her - it was that or let her go on her own, and that wasn't happening. _

_ "Go get Ace," Kompass tasked Rachet. Ace had been up there for the lookout posts, he'd be able to talk her out of this.  _

_ Austeyr walked at her side, throwing her concerned looks, and she grabbed hold of his forearm to steady herself. Her injuries were healing, but walking around still took a lot out of her, and she'd already been up to council that morning. She was sweating, her breathing deliberately slow, as if forcing her body to comply, and they hadn't even reached any steps yet. _

_ "Heyyy, what are you up to?" _

_ Her head shot up, and they saw the Wastelander walk up to them, dusty and a little ragged. Rachet was behind him.  _

_ "I can't find Ace," he said, "but—" he indicated the Wastelander.   _

_ Kompass let out a breath in relief to see the man. He'd given the Boss blood, so he must want her to be well. He wouldn't let her go up to the Green, would he? And things seemed to go easier when he was there. The man had a way of speaking to the Boss none of them understood, soft, but that would make her smile even when he was saying things she didn't like. _

_ Furiosa was supposed to be resting and gaining strength, Kompass thought, not subject herself to a place where there’s nothing but weak things. This wastelander had survived, maybe even flourished, out in that waterless forever and managed to come out of many thousand days of it with all limbs attached, sorta, if you don’t count his head; he was strong enough to help their Imperator fight through three war parties, so he should know what would get a person strong. Kompass waited for the other man to cut off her train of thought and steer her back to bed. _

_ "Max," Furiosa rasped, breath coming harsh. When the man stepped closer, she gave him a long look, and he paused. Made a questioning sound.  _

_ After a long moment she nodded slightly.  _

_ "Going up to..." she gestured forward and up, "...the Green." _

_ "Mm. Sounds nice." _

_ What? Did they mishear? He’s… he’s  _ _**encouraging** _ _ this? The Warboys gave each other irritated looks while the Wastelander edged in on her other side. That was not— perhaps the man was more addled than they even realized. Boss did call him Fool... _

_ "Want, um," he reached out a tentative hand toward her elbow, lowered his near shoulder a little. "Mm?"  _

_ Furiosa reached out and put her hand on his shoulder, seeking support, and he fell in at her side.   _

_ "Tell me when, you get, ah," he gestured vaguely. "I'll, I’ll carry you. Yeah?" _

_ She leaned some of her weight on his shoulder in answer and moved determinedly forward, Austeyr giving Kompass panicked looks while still supporting her other side, while Rachet and him helplessly trailed in their wake. _

_ She made it about two thirds up the steps before the breaks to catch her breath seemed to stretch longer and longer, and Kompass hoped that might mean she'd turn back, but she finally squeezed Max's shoulder and gave him a look that on anybody else might have been called pleading. _

_ A little smile curled the man's lips. "All right, huh?" _

_ He turned his back on her and crouched down, and she looked confused for a moment but then leaned forward against his back, hooking her arms over his shoulders. Austeyr automatically reached to steady them both while Max put his hands under her knees. He rose to his feet with a clicking sound from his knee and a pained grunt. _

_ "Could've let one of us—" Kompass gestured. Both he and Austeyr could carry the Boss with ease. Rachet could manage if needed. Plus, if she had climbed on one of their backs, they could have carried her back to her quarters easily.  _

_ "Hm, too late now," Max grunted, and began to walk up the steps. _

_ By the time they got to where the air was damp and strange-smelling, Furiosa had her chin hooked over Max's shoulder, and the man's forehead was beaded with sweat. Rachet walked ahead, like a new-weaned pup who hadn't yet learned the way of things, apparently forgetting that the Green was for living soft, looking around with interest. Kompass grit his teeth, wanting to pull the younger crew back, show too much interest and they’ll never let him escape; even if he goes back to being crew after, people will talk, say he’s carrying green under his nails, and say he’s unfit for War.  _

_ They emerged up into rows of tall plants, the sand here strangely brown and clumpy, nothing like they were used to. It was damp, water trickling from hoses with tiny holes in them. There was light, but even that felt softened somehow, nothing at all like the way sun crashed down in the wastes or struck against the Citadel’s sides in the dawns and dusks. The air itself felt liquid, and easy, not scratching against the throat and lungs at all like proper air did.  _

_ Kompass, Austeyr and Rachet stood and stared. They had tended to hanging gardens, little ledges on the cliff-sides where a few meagre plants could just about collect enough water. They had never seen this. Or smelled this. A little further away where huge plants, tall enough to walk under, and a couple of Greenthumbs were occupied with cutting little bits off of them. _

_ "Imagine doing that instead of war," said Austeyr, the wonder in his voice twisted into disparagement. _

_ "Yeah, imagine," Kompass scoffed. He looked away from them. _

_ Max had carried Furiosa further onto the green, to a patch with short greens sprouted like fuzz on the floor, and he walked onto it. Austeyr hurried forward to help him put down the Boss, steadying them both. She let herself sink down onto the green with a soft sound of relief. Max did the same. _

_ Austeyr looked uncertainly at the stuff under his boots. "We're not.. ruining it?" they might have had disdain for Greenthumbs, but they knew not to ruin trade goods. They were literally sitting on the wealth of the Citadel, what they’d fought sieges to protect, what so many War Boys had died to keep safe. He reached out tentatively and ran his fingers through it, feeling hunted and awkward as Kompass stared wounds into the back of his head.  _

_ "It's grass," Max said. "It'll be," he gestured vaguely. "Be OK." _

_ Austeyr had never seen grass before today. _

_ Furiosa was plucking at the buckles of her boots, and after long moments of fumbling, finally managed to kick them off her feet, rooting her toes into the little plants. _

_ Kompass stood by uncertainly, not clear on what he was supposed to do here. He felt completely out of place, like if he moved wrong then he’d bruise some piece of green and he’d get them all kicked out. Then he remembered that their Imperator hadn't asked them to come; they'd decided that themselves, so she wasn't exactly responsible for keeping them occupied. Maybe he should leave, the back of his neck itched, but. _

_ Austeyr had already settled down next to Max, examining the green wonderingly. _

“ _Grass,” Max was explaining in a soft voice. He stretched out the leg with the brace on and massaged it. “It's meant to, ah, cover the ground. Used to be they grew it special to, mm, to play games on.”_

“ _We had a field of it, in the Green Place” Furiosa said softly to the sky over head. She'd laid back, knees drawn up so her bare footsoles were nestled in the plants. All four of them came to attention at this bit of rare information. Janey had told them a little about the Green Place, but Furiosa never spoke of it; perhaps still too raw with the knowledge that it no longer existed._

“ _It was like a...” she trailed off, went silent for long minutes, staring up at the sky, blinking now and then. “Like a village 'park,' Katee said,” she finished finally._

_ A park? Isn’t that a place to put cars? And why did that name sound familiar? _

_ Max made a soft sound of acknowledgement and she sighed like just those few words had exhausted her. _

_ Kompass met Austeyr's eyes and mouthed “Katee?” because when had he heard that before? Aus widened his eyes and mouthed “Nightmares.” _

_ And oh, V8, that was it – the Boss had very rarely had loud nightmares in the time he'd known her, usually managed to wake herself before it came to that point, but the few times she'd had them Kompass remembered hearing that name. 'Katee, help me'. He'd thought maybe it was one of the other former wives, somebody the Boss had appealed to when she had been thrown out of the vault. _

_ Austeyr watched Furiosa's toes curl lazily into the grass. It was a strange thing to do, but she seemed to enjoy the feeling, and it was making him curious. After a lengthy inner debate on if he should really be curious about something so soft, he decided that if the Boss was doing it, it couldn't be completely soft, and began to take off his own boots. _

“ _Ach, don't do that, you'll kill the plants,” Kompass groused_

“ _I'll kill you, boofhead,” Austeyr shot back, throwing an – admittedly not too clean – sock at the other Warboy._

_ Kompass roared a challenge and pounced, rolling Austeyr away from the Boss and Max and getting him in a control hold. _

_ Max looked alarmed, but Furiosa just waved a lazy hand and said languidly “Don't break each other, boys.” _

 

That had almost been a simpler time, despite the weight of the incoming war parties hanging over their heads. It’d seemed like it’d helped boost the Boss’ energy, getting her on her feet again, allowing her to heal fast enough to take up her post in the Citadel defence. 

Kompass made his way back to Furiosa's quarters, running into Austeyr in the hallway. 

"Miss Gale says yes," Kompass informed the other warboy.

"Oh good," Austeyr said. "The one breeder visited yesterday, the one Guzzer used to be stuck on, and she's back to starin' at the wall and bein' all quiet."

"I have an idea."

 

"Hey Boss," Kompass said, leaning around the door, trying to catch her gaze. She had her back to the door. "Want to go up to the green this afternoon?"

She didn't look back, shrugging listlessly. 

"See, we all got some projects to work on, would be nice to be in the light, got some detail-work planned.”

Her shoulders shrugged again, but she turned her head slightly, and he thought there was a little interest there. They hadn't shown her their projects yet. Hadn't exactly hidden them, they were in crates along the wall, but just she hadn't shown any interest. 

“Yeah, those wires aren’t gonna connect themselves.” Austeyr tempted, concern on his face.

“Hmph! I’ll just go up myself, bet I can make it myself, extra shine.” Rachet harrumped, and picked up the crate with his project and spare parts. He started making for the door.

“ Hey wait! What are you, that’s not the poi—” Austeyr turned to follow and then looked at Rachet’s face, words slowing, “What… are you even saying. Of course you can’t. You know what! I bet I can make a better arm,  _ myself _ .”

Furiosa turned a little, eyes to the ceiling, as if trying to hear the conversation better. 

“I’m already making one though!”

“Don’t mean she can’t have two arms. Your’s will be the spare.”

“Mine will be better!”

Austeyr said, incredibly transparent but no less effective for it, “Well, we can see about that once we're up there, working on ‘em, right?”

They kept arguing as they slowly headed down the hall, and Furiosa twisted a little, as if tilting her head to catch their fading words. 

“ Tch, now I’m gonna have to follow t’make sure they don’t blow themselves up,” Kompass sighed, hiding his grin, because it was  _ working _ . 

“...what.” Furiosa said, and turned over on the mattress just in time around to see Kompass carrying his crate of scrap and material and— 

explosives.

 

* * *

 

_ What _ .

 


End file.
